The present invention pertains in general to immunotherapeutic techniques for alleviating the symptoms of malignant neoplasia and for treating diseases of viral origin. In particular, the present invention pertains to immunotherapeutic techniques useful in treatment of disease states such as feline leukemia, bovine leukemia and the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
In order to protect the integrity of the organism, higher vertebrates possess an elaborate immune system which distinguishes foreign substances, which must provoke an immune response in order to be eliminated, from "self" substances, which are tolerated. The mechanism that effectuates this discrimination between self and foreign substances is known to involve interactions among types of white blood cells (leukocytes).
Upon exposure of the antigen to the circulating fluids of the body, substances capable of recognition by the immune system (antigens) come into contact with a type of leukocytes called a macrophage. Macrophages are phagocytic cells and can therefore engulf and destroy materials which are not protected from them by size, surface texture (i.e., smoothness), surface charge, or some other mechanism.
Once engulfed and processed by a macrophage, an antigen or a portion thereof is presented at the surface of the macrophage for contact with another type of leukocyte called a thymocyte or T-cell. T-cells control the production of antibodies by yet another type of lymphocyte called a B-cell.
Antibodies are B-cell-produced proteins which are capable of combining with an antigen in a reaction which is specific for that antigen. An antibody only combines with certain portions (antigenic determinants) of the surface of the antigen, so that the antibody is specific to the degree that the determinant with which it combines is not also found on other antigens.
The binding of an antibody to its corresponding antigen on the surface of a foreign cell has significant consequences related to the destruction of that cell by the immune system. First, the coating of the cell by antibody facilitates ingestion of the cell by macrophages and by other types of phagocytes including killer (K) cells, which act to destroy antibody-coated cells but which do not require sensitization by prior exposure with macrophage-processed antigen, and polymorphonuclear (PMN) leukocytes. Second, the coating of a cell by antibody activates a system of proteins, known as the complement system, in the liquid (plasma) fraction of the blood. Upon activation of this system, complement components also coat the foreign cell, which facilitates phagocytosis. In addition, complement activation results in the stimulation of inflammatory cells, leading to production of chemicals which attract macrophages through a process called chemotaxis and leading to inflammatory hormone-like activation of cellular functions. Lastly, complement components act directly to break up (lyse) the membrane of the foreign cell. The portion of the immune response involved with antigen-antibody and complement interactions is generally referred to as the humoral reaction.
T-cells, which regulate the humoral reaction, are of several types. These types of T-cells have been described as including helper (T.sub.H) cells, inducer (T.sub.I) cells, regulator (T.sub.R) cells, and suppressor (T.sub.S) cells. [Herscowitz, Chapter 7 in Immunology III, Bellanti, J. W. Saunders, Philadelphia (1985)]. T.sub.I and T.sub.H cells are mobilized by contact with processed antigen on the surface of macrophages. T.sub.H cells are also activated by signals from T.sub.I and from T.sub.R cells. T.sub.R cells are activated by signals from T.sub.I and T.sub.S cells. Mobilization of T.sub.S cells occurs in response to signals from T.sub.R cells or as a result of contact with antigen.
Introduction of an optimal amount of a foreign substance into the fluids of the body initiates a process which results in production of antibody by B-cells. In this process, B-cells respond to stimulation by T.sub.H cells, which have in turn been stimulated by macrophages. Introduction of a persistent low level of some antigens or of a high level of an antigen results in a low-level of or in a lack of production of antibody due to an interruption by T.sub.S cells of the signals from T.sub.H cells to B-cells. This interruption, called suppression, may be induced through the macrophage-T.sub.I -T.sub.R pathway or by direct stimulation of the T.sub.S cells by antigen. Suppression of antibody production to a first antigen may be overcome in a process known as contrasuppression through the stimulation of a subtype of T.sub.S cells called contrasuppressor cells by a second antigen which is antigenically similar to the first antigen. These contrasuppressor cells send a signal to T.sub.R cells which render the T.sub.H cells resistant to the activity of the suppressor T.sub.S cells and which interrupt the suppressor signals of the suppressor T.sub.S cells. See Gershon, et al., J. Exp. Med., 153: 1533-1546 (1981); Yamauchi, et al., J. Exp. Med., 153: 1547-1561 (1981); and Green, et al., Ann. Rev. Immunol., 1: 439-463 (1983).
It is the balance of the actions of T.sub.H helper and T.sub.S suppressor cells which determines whether or not an immune response develops in the presence of an antigen. Thus, as a practical matter, the functioning of the network of T-cells may be viewed in terms of the ratio of helper to suppressor cells (T.sub.H /T.sub.S).
T-cells are also involved in another type of immune response, which is said to involve cell-mediated immune (CMI) reactions. Contact of T.sub.H cells with macrophage-processed antigen causes the T.sub.H cells to release interleukin II (IL-2), which activates cytotoxic (T.sub.CYT) T-cells and, in conjunction with gamma interferon also released by the T.sub.H cells at this time, activates natural killer (NK) cells. Both T.sub.CYT and NK cells kill foreign cells. T.sub.CYT cells are particularly involved with rejection and the destruction of tumor cells.
As is evident from the foregoing discussion, a general outline of the functioning of the immune system is available. However, many areas of the functioning of the immune system remain unclear. One of these areas relates to the inability of the immune system to recognize certain cancers (malignant neoplasms) and cells infected with certain viruses [e.g., feline leukemia virus; bovine leukemia virus; and human T-leukemia-lymphoma virus (HTLV), which is believed to be the causative agent in AIDS].
In attempts to stimulate an immune response against a malignant neoplasm, many approaches have been aimed at the augmentation of antitumor defenses by administration of adjuvants (immune enhancers or potentiators). These approaches attempt to enhance nonspecific phagocytosis and killing of tumor cells by macrophages and T-cells. Such approaches employ infectious BCG mycobacteria, non-living Corynebacterium parvum, glucan (a glucose polymer derived from microorganisms), or levamisole (an antihelminthic drug known to be useful for stimulating CMI and the action of macrophages). Herberman, et al., Chapter 19 in Immunology III (Bellanti, ed.), W. B. Saunders Co. (1985), at page 343. The reported antitumor action of lysosome and pepsin lysates containing glycopeptides from the cell wall of Lactobacillus bulgaricus [Bogdanov, et al., FEBS Letters, 57: 259 (1975); Bogdanov, et al., Byulletin Eksperimental'noi Biologia i Meditsiiny, 84: 709 (1977)] and the treatment of malignant tumors with destroyed Staphylococcus aureus [abstract of examined Japanese Patent Application No. 84 046487] appear to fall in this category. Adjuvant therapy has had varying degrees of questionable or limited success. Herberman, et al., supra.
The failure of the immune system to recognize malignant neoplasms is particularly puzzling in view of the fact that certain characteristic substances (tumor markers) are present at levels which are elevated above normal in patients with various neoplastic disease states. Specifically, alphafetoprotein (AFP), Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) are oncofetal tumor markers widely used in the investigation of patients with neoplasms of the liver, colon, and trophoblast, respectively. AFP has been found at levels elevated above normal in fifty percent or more of patients with yolk sac tumors, hepatomas, retinoblastomas, embryonal carcinomas, breast carcinomas, and carcinomas of the uterine cervix, and has been found at elevated levels in between two and fifty percent of patients having carcinomas of the pancreas, melanomas, gastric carcinomas, basal cell carcinomas, bronchogenic carcinomas, leukemias, colon carcinomas, and nasopharyngeal carcinomas. CEA has been found at elevated levels in fifty percent or more of patients having colon carcinomas, choriocarcinomas, pancreatic carcinomas, medullary thyroid carcinomas, familial medullary thyroid carcinomas, osteosarcomas, retinoblastoms, ovarian cystadenocarcinomas, mycosis fungoides, hepatomas, esophageal carcinomas, adenocarcinomas of the uterine cervix, lung carcinomas, carcinomas of the small intestine, urinary bladder carcinomas, and renal cell carcinomas, and has been found at elevated levels in between nine and fifty percent of patients having neural crest tumors, breast carcinomas, prostatic carcinomas, primary uveal carcinomas, neuroblastomas, fluids with malignancy, seminomas, basal cell carcinomas, gastric carcinomas, laryngeal carcinomas, endometrial carcinomas, uterine cervix intraepithelial carcinomas, carcinomas of the buccal mucosa, craniopharyngiomas, embryonal rhabdomyosarcomas, carcinomas of the oropharynx, brain tumors and testicular teratomas. HCG has been found at elevated levels in the serum of fifty percent or more of patients having choriocarcinomas, malignant interstitial cell tumors of the testis, non seminomatous tumors of the testis, embryonal carcinomas, and pancreatic carcinomas, and has been found at elevated levels in between six and fifty percent of the patients having teratomas, ovarian adenocarcinomas, uterine cervix carcinomas, endometrial carcinomas, seminomas, gastric carcinomas, urinary bladder carcinomas, breast carcinomas, colorectal carcinomas, bronchogenic squamous cell carcinomas, mellanomas, and multiple myelomas. Other universal oncofetal tumor markers, including tissue polypeptide antigen (TPA), which is associated with cell proliferation and which is not specific for any species, are also known. See, Klavins, Annals of Clinical and Laboratory Science, 13: 275-280 (1983).
With respect to HGC, a chorionic gonadotropin-like antigen has been found in bacteria isolated from the urine of cancer patients, as indicated in Acevedo, et al., Infection and Immunity, 31: 487-494 (1981), but not in the same species of bacteria obtained from any other source tested. Furthermore, rat mammary adenocarcinoma cells and rat hepatoma cells have been found to synthesize chorionic gonadotropin-like material, although no such material was found in the sera of the animals bearing these neoplasms, in Kellen, et al., Cancer, 49: 2300-2304 (1982); and in Kellen, et al., Cancer Immunol. Immunother., 13: 2-4 (1982). In the papers of Kellen, et al., and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,384,995, a subunit of HCG conjugated to tetanus toxoid is used to prophylactically stimulate an immune response to chorionic gonadotropin-like substances by repeated injection with the conjugated material before exposure to tumor cells known to bear a chorionic gonadotropin-like antigen.
Among the differences between prophylactic treatment with HCG and the adjuvant therapy approach is that the induction of an immune response for prophylactic purposes requires repeated injections over a period of time in order to initiate the development of at least one population of identical B-cells (a clone) producing a given antibody to a tumor antigen and for antibody to be produced by that clone. On the other hand, adjuvant therapy may result in antibody production by an existing clone of B-cells and thus has anti-tumor effects which may be immediately observed. Therapeutic treatment (i.e., treatment after a malignant neoplasm is present) with HCG conjugated with tetanus toxoid raises the possibility of an uncontrollable Herxheimer-type reaction. The Herxheimer reaction appears after treatment of syphilis patients with a substance that is toxic to the causative spirochete bacteria, which thereupon die in massive numbers, releasing potentially fatal toxic substances into the blood stream. By analogy, at some as-yet unpredictable point in the induction of an immune response to a tumor antigen, a massive die-off of cancer cells may result in the death of the patient.
A luteinizing hormone releasing factor (LHRF), sometimes generically referred to as gonadorelin, which causes luteinizing hormone, a pituitary gonadotropin, to be released from the pituitary, has been used for treating various tumors in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,002,738 and 4,071,622. Gonadorelin has also been used in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia, a type of non-malignant but excess prostatic growth, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,321,260. However, no indication is provided in these patents that direct application of any gonadotropin may affect destruction of malignant neoplasms. In addition, release of LH from the pituitary is subject to a feedback control independent of the administered gonadotropin, so that how much, if any, LH is released is not determinable merely from knowledge of an administered dose. Moreover, LHRF in combination with other substances may act to increase chorionic gonadotropin secretion by direct action on a tumor cell, further compounding the uncertain effect of LHRF administration. Kellen, et al., AACR Abstracts, 23: 235 (Mar. 1982) (Abstract 928).
In fact, Simon, et al., J.M.C.I., 70: 839-845 (1983), indicate that dosages of gonadotropic and steroid hormones stimulate the growth of differentiated carcinomas. These hormones included human follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), HCG, human luteinizing hormone (LH), and cortisol. Thus Simon, et al. appears to support the idea that direct administration of gonadotropic or steroid hormones has a proliferative effect on malignant neoplasms.
Evidence for the suppression of the immune response against antigens of neoplastic cells is provided by Akiyama, et al., J. Immunol., 131: 3085-3090 (1983), wherein responsiveness of a mixed culture of lymphocytes from cancer patients and healthy donors was suppressed by the introduction into the system of tumor cells from the cancer patients. This suggests that among the lymphocytes of the cancer patients were T.sub.S cells specific for tumor-derived cells, inasmuch as the response of cultures containing only lymphocytes from healthy donors was not so suppressed.
Furthermore, antigen-specific T.sub.S cells have been isolated from a mouse having a plasmacytoma, which cells inhibited the in vitro induction of a cytotoxic T-cell response against the tumor. Kolsch, Scand. J. Immunol., 19: 387-393 (1984). According to Kolsch, T.sub.S cells may be activated and may dominate T.sub.H cells by high and low doses of antigen, but a critical, intermediate antigen dose which activates T.sub.H cells at the same time as it activates the T.sub.S cells, permits T.sub.H cells to dominate. Thus, Kolsch indicates that there may be an antigen dose at which a delicate balance is reached where T.sub.H cells are activated but at which T.sub.S cells dominate the immune response.
In Loblay, et al., Aust. J. Exp. Biol. Med. Sci., 62: 11-25 (1984), it is indicated that the suppression produced by T.sub.S cells in animals which have been exposed to an antigen is enhanced by a subsequent administration of a sufficiently large dose of antigen. Perhaps it is not so surprising, therefore, that attempts to induce contrasuppression have been aimed at supplying contrasuppressor cells, or substances therefrom, rather than by direct induction of contrasuppression. See, Green, "Contrasuppression: Its Role in Immunoregulation", in The Potential Role of T-Cells in Cancer Therapy, Fefer, et al., eds., Raven Press, New York (1982); and Green, et al., Ann. Rev. Immunol., 1: 439-463 (1983).